


The Inbetween Years

by ScarlettaBlack



Category: 999: Nine Hours Nine Persons Nine Doors - Fandom, Zero Escape (Video Games), Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward - Fandom
Genre: Angst, M/M, One Shot, Series Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-19
Updated: 2014-07-19
Packaged: 2018-02-09 12:36:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,475
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1983264
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScarlettaBlack/pseuds/ScarlettaBlack
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Junpei's life during the period between 999 and VLR, from chasing Akane to searching for Clover.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Inbetween Years

**Author's Note:**

> Just something I wrote up on tumblr, decided to put it here.

Junpei meant it when he said he didn’t have any friends in the cabin room.  He had people he talked to, but no one he’d ever actually call a friend. Clover was his first friend since Akane from elementary school.

After the events of 999 he chases after Akane, but he also keeps in touch with Clover and Light.  Sometimes he goes and meets up with them for coffee (well, Clover loves a good latte and Snake enjoys his coffee black while Junpei loves him a mean root beer float but _you know_ ) and watches Snake, or Light, as he’s come to know him, play the harp, he’s pretty good, and every time he goes there’s a larger group of people surrounding Light.

When he can’t meet Clover and Snake, he usually just texts them, well, Clover.  Mostly they just text each other puns and try to outdo each other.  Sometimes, on his grand trek around the world, Akane will leave a postcard and a list of names, people from either Cradle Pharmaceutical or Free the Soul or occasionally both.  Lately Clover’s been getting into some super spy business, whatever, with All-Ice, so whenever he gets those he takes a picture of the names and message and sends it to her.  Sometimes she texts back (the chances of people actually being caught is 25/75 out of their favor, Junpei doesn’t quite know how important it is to capture them but Clover seems to think it’s very important and Akane doesn’t leave many messages otherwise so Junpei just does all he can), but most of the time she doesn’t reply until she’s got a clever pun unrelated to her current case.

So when Clover disappears off the face of the earth, Junpei is really worried.

He hears the news from a call from Snake. Technically the phone is his and Clover’s, but he rarely uses it. Junpei’s more alarmed than usual because Snake is really distressed, making weird breathy noises and occasionally stuttering over his words.  He hops on the quickest plane ride to Light, and tries to assure him it’ll be all okay, Clover is probably working off the radar and just forgot to tell anyone or something.

Together they try to look for Clover.  Unfortunately All-Ice or rather Alice, Clover’s superior, is _also_ gone (Light heavily implies the relationship goes quite a bit deeper than just a business friendship, but Junpei doesn’t say anything. He can’t help thinking, good for Clover, but also worries that she’s gone and eloped with this beautiful lady; he ultimately decides she wouldn’t do that without telling Snake, with whom she has no secrets).  Still, Light’s been working on strengthening his morphogenetic field with Clover, and apparently he’s also been in on this super spy stuff, though not to the extent Clover was, but it’s better than nothing when beginning their search, Junpei supposes.

They search and search.  They go through her room (but don’t go into the pink notebook, Light says, that’s hers and it’s off limits) and try to find clues, but ultimately they come up with nothing, save doodles of “Clover&Alice <3” and similar scribbles on various sheets of paper.  There was one report left lying around, the last mission she was on, which almost ended badly for her, according to Snake.  Clover disappeared pretty quickly after this, but neither of them are sure that mission had anything to do with her disappearance.  And the spy people, SOIS, are no help whatsoever.  It’s like they don’t even care, Light says one day.  Junpei agrees.

(Junpei is _extremely_ tempted to open Clover’s diary, but he’s like 900% sure Snake would know just from the sounds of the pages turning, so he doesn’t.)

Junpei and Light end up tangled together in Light’s bed one night.  Junpei’s not sure what happened.  Neither does Light, Junpei’s sure, but not like he’d ever say either way.  Still, it was nice, and he’s nice, and Junpei doesn’t mind it when he’s pulled down for another round.

It becomes somewhat of routine for them now.  Junpei tries to keep track of Akane while still looking for Clover (he’s actually begun leaving postcards and messages where Akane previously left notes for him, like maybe she’ll know Clover’s whereabouts), and Snake splits his time playing the harp, actually earning a living that they can both live off of (and commanding what has now become a cult; Junpei’s a bit too scared to ask what that’s about) and searching for his baby sister.  Eventually the stress gets to them both and they take it out on each other on that crappy mattress Light has.  One time they actually stop to talk about it and both come to the conclusion that they are Not In Love With Each Other, since they both have people they’re in love with (Light’s an asshole and won’t say who he loves, but Junpei is pretty sure it’s because he’d tease as badly as Light does to Junpei about Akane), but they won’t deny they like the way their relationship has turned out and so it keeps on.

Junpei gets a little nervous when Snake starts bringing ropes and handcuffs and weird sex toys Junpei didn’t know existed, but they’ve been in it together too long to not trust him.  Turns out they both like it very much.

One night Junpei just buys all the liquor he can carry and brings it back to their little flat.  It’s been months since Clover’s disappeared, and Akane hasn’t answered any of his pleas for help in finding Clover, which he supposes he shouldn’t be surprised (he did get a picture with her and some monument, with the note “wish you were here. hope you understand.” He doesn’t, but he keeps the picture close to him at all times anyway), so really the only solution for their problems is to just drink themselves silly.  Light agrees, and Junpei’s a bit surprised at that.

What doesn’t surprise Junpei is his inevitable crying on Light’s shoulder like a wimp, blubbering about Akane something or another.  He doesn’t even know what he’s saying at this point, doesn’t know what words out there exist to properly articulate his heartbreak and longing for Akane to _just see him_ again, to explain herself and what _he_ means to current Akane, not twelve year old Akane or June.  Usually Light would make fun of him and his drawn out puppy dog love, but tonight Light is possibly drunker than Junpei, so he nods sympathetically and starts talking about Aoi Kurashiki, and that’s when Junpei realizes that they both have it bad for the Kurashiki siblings.  He’s not sure what to do with this new information except cry harder on Light’s shoulder because _fuck,_ both their situations are shitty and he’s pretty tired of it all.

One night when Light’s resting himself on Junpei’s arm, he asks what Aoi Kurashiki looked like during the Second Nonary Game.  Junpei does the best he can, since it’s been a bit of a while and a lot of times the rush to get out blurs specific, unimportant memories, but Light seems satisfied with what Junpei tells him.  Junpei asks Light how Akane was during the First Nonary Game, and Light shares what he can remember, which is significantly less, but Junpei feels happy nonetheless.

They hear about Radical-6 on the news.  Well, they don’t really know what it is at first, there’s just been some talk of some virus that makes people act slower than usual then have violent fits that end in suicide.  Still, it’s miles away from where they are, so mostly things just remain the same for them, searching and sex.

One day Light starts acting weird.  It’s like he just zones out of the conversation sometimes, even when it’s about Clover.  One time he snaps at Junpei for talking too fast.  Junpei’s _never_ seen him snap at someone, but he vaguely remembers what it looks like, most likely from some faint memory 12-year-old Akane left him with.  Still, it leaves him completely unnerved.

A while later Junpei finds Light trying to kill himself with a kitchen knife and that’s when Junpei really starts freaking out, especially since Light is most definitely not Light right now, he almost sounds like he was when Clover disappeared, only now he’s talking about the inevitability of death and how Clover is probably dead and for fuck’s sake he’ll _never even see Aoi what’s the goddamn point_ , and Junpei doesn’t remember being so scared in all his life.  He ends up knocking Light out with a frying pan, he doesn’t know what else to do.  He then restrains Light on the bed with some of the handcuffs and what have you (god bless kinky Light, thinks Junpei).

While Light is out and restrained Junpei goes out and buys a lot of Soporil.  For some reason he’s able to.  It doesn’t pass Junpei’s notice that things are a little odd, less people, some people moving about slower than usual, vacant looks in their eyes.  He hasn’t been noticing these things because he’s been wrapped up in Akane, Clover, and Light, but now he’s acutely aware that whatever hit another part of the world, that Radical-6, has now hit here and specifically at home.

When he gets home, Light’s lucid, thank god.  Still, Junpei’s not sure how long it’ll last.  He explains his theory to Light, and Light nods; it makes sense, after all.  Junpei’s secure enough to untie Light, but starts putting away any and all sharp objects and lengths of rope that are a little _too_ long.

The slowed down states and manic states begin to overtake the lucid times.  Pretty soon Junpei finds it almost impossible to communicate with Light, and he’s beginning to run of out Soporil.

Light is the one to bring up just ending it.  Junpei’s half aware that his manic state might have seeped into his lucid states, but he listens to Light and agrees that Light should make the decision when he’s as lucid as he can be, and on his own terms.  He requests some poison, some neurotoxin, to be injected with.  Apparently it imitates some snake venom, an ugly attempt at a joke.  Junpei doesn’t say anything; he’s stopped being Snake to Junpei for a long while, but he won’t completely disregard what Light’s got to say, so he goes out and tries to find it while giving him a particularly large dose of Soporil.

Turns out it’s easy to find.  Anything that’ll kill you is easy to find actually, Junpei finds.  There’s too many dead bodies at this point and not enough people to actually do anything about it, so they start to pile up in alleyways, in the middle of the street, and the stench is so bad it harkens back to how he remembered the 9th man’s corpse smelling, but worse and twenty times stronger.

It takes a little while for Light to reach a lucid state again, but (somewhat luckily) he’s only slowed down at the moment, so Junpei keeps as quiet as he can so as not to disorient him, and very slowly strokes Light’s arm, half hoping to coax him out of that state.

Eventually Light comes back to and they decide this is probably the last time they’ll be able to do this, so Junpei gets the neurotoxin and gets a needle.  He holds Light’s hand as he finds a vein and injects the poison.  He tries not to cry, but fails miserably and settles for trying not to make a sound, but Light knows like Light knows every goddamn thing, and he manages to wipe a tear from Junpei’s face and smiles in Junpei’s direction before the poison kicks in and he dies shortly after.

For the first time since the Second Nonary Game, Junpei is, again, alone.

He doesn’t know what to do at first.  He buries Light himself because he can’t stand the thought of Light just _there_ ,and no way is he letting him become another one of the nameless bodies out there either, so he gets a shovel and finds a plot of ground as close to home as possible and digs and digs and digs.

His impromptu funeral attracts some people.  He’s aware some people are from the wacky cult Light had been hosting up until Radical-6, maybe the last surviving members of the following, but there are some people Junpei’s never seen in his life.  What would Light do, he thinks.  First, he’d figure out how many people there were, then figure out why they were there.  A bit more than dozen.  Maybe they’re just there to remember that humanity still exists, in its small way.  Junpei doesn’t know.  Junpei doesn’t really care.

Several days after, there’s a broadcast that any survivors should head to quartered areas underground.  Junpei goes.  He was afraid at first that his close proximity to Light would have infected him with Radical-6, but he hasn’t experienced any of what he’s seeing around him, so he can only guess he’s clean.  He wonders if he’s immune.  He doesn’t know.

A few days after that, the nukes go off.  It had been discussed maybe a couple days prior to Junpei reaching an underground asylum, but Junpei’s there to hear it happening, see it using what technology they have left to see the outside world.  Junpei’s well aware whoever made this jackshit decision was definitely not free of Radical-6’s grip, and he can’t help but feel angry at the leaders for taking it out on literally the entire world.

Years go by.  Junpei doesn’t know.  He stopped counting a long time ago.  The people he’s staying with are nice enough, but they’re not who he wants to see most, so he usually keeps to himself.  Most of the time he keeps going, thinking to himself, What would Light do?  One day he makes a joke, and people just stare at him, and he remembers that he can’t send a text to Clover, who would understand.

Eventually, people decide it’s okay to venture out to the outside world.  Virtually everything is charred and dead, Radical-6 along with it, it seems.  Junpei tries to remember where home is, and he walks, trying to avoid pockets where it looks more noxious than others.

Eventually he finds it.  Or, at least, he thinks he does.  He can’t remember what looks like, exactly, and everything is burnt and to the ground, but after looking a while he finds Light’s small headstone, which by some miracle is still somewhat recognizable.  He just lies there, a grown man curled over a patch of dirt and debris.

Everyone he knows is probably dead at this point, he thinks.  Everyone but Akane, who he’s sure has managed to survive this as well.  He hopes she’s doing well.  The thought keeps him from lying there forever; he dusts himself off and starts walking, one step at a time.

A few months go by and he finds himself at where he fancies was one of Akane’s hiding spots for notes and messages.  He almost jokingly checks it.  Nothing.

It’s been years now.  Years and decades, all wrapped up into an endless lifetime, in which Junpei lives by looking for scraps and spends his time looking back, always looking back.  He doesn’t know what to do so he looks for Akane.  There’s not much left of his life anyway, so he feels less bad about dedicating his life to this.  He gets even less far than he did before the nuclear winter; at least Akane would send a note, just enough to let him know she’s still alive and on the move.  Now, it’s radio silence.  He feels that’s what his life’s become, and tries not to think too hard on it.

One day though, he finds a baby.  No mother or father in sight, just a baby, abandoned, in the middle of nowhere (which is on what Junpei supposes is a street).  He doesn’t know what to do.  He wishes he could check into his ESPer abilities and receive information on what to do with an abandoned baby.  He almost tries for a moment, he’s that lost. 

What would Light do?

He picks up the infant.

The baby begins crying soon after and Junpei is left at a loss of what to do.  Still.  He can’t just _leave a baby_.  So he carries him (the baby is, as far as he can tell, a he) to the nearest shelter and picks up as many supplies as he thinks he needs, baby formula, blankets, binkies, you name it.

And he raises the baby.  Names him Quark because he’s so goddamn small, and does the best he can to keep the child healthy in a post-apocalyptic world.  When Quark calls him Grandpa he almost feels as though his heart would burst, he’s so proud.  He’s so proud of whatever there is that can continue thriving in this sorry world, but Quark is especially his pride and joy.  By some stroke of luck, root beer floats are still a thing.  They’re so rare it’s very hard and very expensive to get one, but it’s doable and he treats Quark to one every chance he gets, and is delighted to see Quark likes them almost as much as he does.

Junpei is… happy.  Oddly enough.  He’s pretty certain he didn’t picture his life turning out this way, even after learning about morphogenetic fields and time paradoxes, but here he is, taking care of a child that has never known anything before this wasteland, and he’s pretty fucking proud of himself.  For once in his life he can forget about Akane, and Light, and Clover, and reclaim his own life as rightfully his.

Of course, it couldn’t last forever.  Junpei in hindsight knows this, knows that he should have expected Zero (or some representative of Zero) to come to him and offer him what he’s always wanted:  A chance to see Akane again.  How can he say no?  He can’t, and Akane knows that, and he’s pissed that he can’t do anything but accept her manipulations.  Still, he requests that Quark be there, and for some reason there’s no resistance to that.

He lets Quark in on the little things.  They’re going to the Moon, and they’re going to play a game before meeting an old friend.  They have to not say anything about the condition of the world and a few more things to the participants in the game.  He tries to stress that the game is _dangerous_ and that Quark should never trust anybody and try to keep to Junpei as much as possible.  He hopes Quark understands the severity of it.

He’s about ready to board the flight to the Moon (how is everything so wrecked but we can still travel to the Moon, Junpei thinks), but Zero gasses them.  Not that Junpei is particularly surprised, but he does wish they’d be more considerate to Quark of all people.

He wakes up in an elevator room, alone.  A bunny pops up on a screen by the door (in his mind he’s ten, there’s dead rabbits everywhere and Akane is crying) and tells him he’s about to play the Nonary Game: Ambidex Edition.  Whatever that means.  He’s just gotta get out of here and see if Quark’s alright.  The puzzle is easy enough, even without the morphogenetic field he depended on 45 years ago, and he ends up being one of the first people out.

Luckily, Quark’s not far behind (he’s always been a bright boy) with a man in a funny hat.  Junpei immediately doesn’t trust him.

Other people come out but there’s still a pair left to make up the nine players.  And there they are: one massive, inhuman looking man in what appears to be armor, jumping out with a girl with wildly pink hair.

Pink hair.

It’s then he belatedly recognizes All-Ice/Alice, and his mind works furiously.  What does it mean, that Clover’s here?  And Alice?  Both are as young as he remembers them, and it’s boggling his mind.  What would Light do?  Probably drop any sort of pretenses and run after her and admonish her for not being more careful.  But Junpei isn’t Light and as much as he hates to hear himself think it, Akane will always be more important that Clover.

He watches Clover take in what’s happening, that they are, indeed, in another Nonary game.

Her eyes pass by him with no recognition.

It’s not the first time in his life Junpei regrets a decision, but he’s beginning to realize that this game probably has much higher stakes, and now, instead of just one person to protect, he has two.

And she doesn’t even recognize him.


End file.
